Remote trigger for security system

ABSTRACT

Techniques for automatically securing receptacles of a retailer via an electronic lock include receiving a user request to reserve a receptacle, selecting a suitable receptacle based on one or more conditions, some of which may be specified by the user, and transmitting an electronic locking signal to secure, and thereby reserve, the selected receptacle. An association between the reserved receptacle and the user is stored, and the user is electronically notified. Subsequently, an electronic signal indicative of the identification of the user (or of the user&#39;s agent) is locally received. Upon determination that the user is expected and associated with the reserved receptacle, the techniques include causing an electronic unlocking signal to be transmitted to the electronic lock, thereby unlocking the receptacle. Further subsequently, upon receiving an electronic locking instruction, the receptacle may automatically be secured via its corresponding electronic lock, and a retailer agent may be electronically notified.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/379,506, filed Apr. 9, 2019 (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,607,465on Mar. 31, 2030) and entitled “REMOTE TRIGGER FOR SECURITY SYSTEM,”which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/268,268,filed Feb. 5, 2019 (which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,438,469 on Oct. 8,2019) and entitled “REMOTE TRIGGER FOR SECURITY SYSTEM,” which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/184,698, filed Nov. 8, 2018(which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,593,179 on Mar. 17, 2020) and entitled“REMOTE TRIGGER FOR SECURITY SYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/689,469, filed Aug. 29, 2017 (which issued asU.S. Pat. No. 10,192,417 on Jan. 29, 2019) and entitled “REMOTE TRIGGERFOR SECURITY SYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 15/194,725, filed Jun. 28, 2016 (which issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,779,603 on Oct. 3, 2017) and entitled “REMOTE TRIGGER FOR SECURITYSYSTEM,” the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application generally relates to mitigating or preventing retailtheft. In particular, this application relates to automatically and/ortriggering the remote locking and unlocking of receptacles for customeraccess.

BACKGROUND

Presently, in certain retail locations, specific products are secured tohelp deter or prevent theft. Items may be stored in locked receptacles,or items may be individually secured to a receptacle, such as acontainer, bin, shelf, rack, or other object. For example,battery-operated shaving razors and higher-end cosmetics may be housedwithin locked receptacles. If a customer would like to examine and/orpurchase an item that is secured at such a receptacle, the customer mustfind a store manager or associate to physically unlock the item so thatthe customer is able to physically examine the product. If the customerdesires to purchase the product, he or she takes it up to the registerto complete the transaction. Irrespective of whether or not the customerpurchases the product, the store manager or associate must physicallyre-secure the receptacle or the other items at the receptacle.

Portable electronic devices such as smart phones and tablet devices arebecoming more ubiquitous as underlying technology and device capabilityimproves. These devices incorporate numerous components that supportvarious device functions and applications. For example, current smartphones include components that enable network connections as well aslocation modules capable of detecting device location.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a method for mitigating retail theft includesdetermining an identity of a customer based on a wireless transmissiondelivered directly between a personal electronic device (PED) of thecustomer and a transceiver at or corresponding to a receptacle at whichan item is secured via an electronic lock. For example, the customer'sPED may automatically discover a beacon signal being transmitted by atransceiver corresponding to the receptacle and/or to the secured item,and the customer's PED may automatically establish a wireless connectionwith the transceiver. Alternatively, the customer's PED may alert thecustomer to the discovered beacon, and the customer may manuallyinstruct the PED to request the remote unlocking of the electronic lock,e.g., via the establishment of a wireless connection with thetransceiver. The customer's identity may be determined based oninformation included in the header and/or the payload of the wirelesstransmission, for example.

Based on the determined customer identity, a risk profile of thecustomer may be accessed, and a risk score corresponding to the customeraccessing the secured item may be determined based on the risk profile(and, optionally, based on a profile of the item secured at thereceptacle). The method may include determining whether or not the riskscore is indicative of an acceptable risk. If the risk is determined tobe acceptable, the method may include automatically sending anelectronic signal to trigger the remote unlocking of the electroniclock, thereby remotely causing the item to be unsecured for access bythe customer. If the risk is determined to be unacceptable, the methodmay include sending an electronic signal to a device operated by anagent of the retailer or enterprise providing the item, and the agentmay then manually unsecure the item so that the customer is providedaccess to the item in the presence of the agent. Alternatively, theagent may choose to send an electronic signal from his or her device toremotely trigger the remote unlocking of the electronic lock, andthereby may remotely cause the item to be unsecured for access by thecustomer.

In an embodiment, a system for mitigating retail theft includes awireless transceiver disposed at or in the proximity of a receptacle,and an electronic lock that secures an item within, at, or to thereceptacle. Additionally, the system includes a security system to whichthe wireless transceiver and electronic lock are communicativelyconnected. The security system may include one or more data storageentities that store a plurality of risk profiles corresponding to aplurality of customers of an enterprise or retailer that provides thesecured item. The security system may generate an electronic signalcorresponding to unlocking the electronic lock based on a risk scorecorresponding to a particular customer accessing the secured item. Theidentity of the particular customer may be determined automaticallybased on a wireless transmission delivered between a Personal ElectronicDevice (PED) of the customer and the wireless transceiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated inand form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed embodiments, andexplain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate various front end and back end devices andcomponents of an example system for mitigating retail theft, andconnections therebetween, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an example layout of an example physical retail store ofa retailer or enterprise.

FIG. 3 depicts an example portion of the system of FIG. 1 in greaterdetail.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example signal diagram associated with mitigatingthe risk of retail theft at a physical store of a retailer or enterprisewhich, inter alia, includes an example signal flow for remotelyunlocking a secured receptacle.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate a flowchart of an example method for mitigatingthe risk of retail theft at a physical store of a retailer orenterprise.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example arrangement of a plurality ofreceptacles, each of which is individually securable.

FIG. 6B illustrates another example arrangement of a plurality ofreceptacles, each of which is individually securable.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of an example method of securing areceptacle.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow chart of an example method of providing access toa secured receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The systems, methods, and techniques disclosed herein relate generallyto mitigating and/or preventing retail theft. In particular, thesystems, methods, and techniques disclosed herein relate to theautomatic and/or remote trigger of the unlocking of a secured item,e.g., that is disposed within a locked receptacle, so that a customermay examine and/or access the item. According to certain aspects, thesystems and methods may leverage communications and other hardware andsoftware capabilities of electronic devices to provide the automaticand/or remote unlocking of secured items while simultaneously mitigatingthe risk to a retailer or enterprise.

In an embodiment, a wireless transceiver or equivalent (e.g., atransmitter and receiver pair) may be disposed on, near, proximate to,or at a secured item. The secured item may be provided by an enterpriseor a retailer, and may be an item that is offered for sale. The item maybe secured via an electronic lock in any number of ways. For example,the item may be housed within a receptacle, typically along with otherinventory, and an opening or door of the receptacle may be secured orlocked by the electronic lock. In another example, the item may beindividually secured to a receptacle (which may be a container, bin,shelf, rack, or some other object) via an electronic lock. The wirelesstransceiver may be disposed on, at, or proximate to the secured item orreceptacle. For example, the wireless transceiver may be fixedlyattached to the item, to the receptacle, or to some other object withinthe vicinity of the secured item.

Generally speaking, the wireless transceiver is configured to wirelesslycommunicate with any known wireless computing devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and/or personal electronic devices (“PEDs”).For example, the wireless transceiver may be configured to operate usingany number of known common air interface protocols, such as cellularcommunication protocols (e.g., GSM, CDMA, PCS, LTE, etc.), wirelessnetworking protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi and/or other IEEE 802.11 protocols,etc.), short-range communication protocols (e.g., Bluetooth, infraredcommunication, Zigbee, etc.), and any other known wireless protocolutilized by personal electronic devices. Further, the wirelesstransceiver is positioned, disposed, located, and/or configured so thatit has the ability to receive wireless signals over any one or more ofthese common air interface protocols from a personal electronic devicewhen the PED is the vicinity or proximity of the secured item. Awireless signal that is detected or received by the wireless transceivermay have been automatically generated by a PED, for example, as a resultof the PED and the wireless transceiver automatically discovering eachother via Bluetooth or some other suitable discovery protocol.Additionally or alternatively, a wireless signal that is detected orreceived by the wireless transceiver may have been generated manually ata PED, e.g., upon a user's activation of a user control at the PED inresponse to being notified that the PED is within proximity of thetransceiver, and therefore within proximity of the secured item.

A wireless signal that is received at a transceiver corresponding to asecured item may include contents that are indicative of a particularcustomer of the retailer or enterprise. For example, the wireless signalmay include an identification of the PED, an identification of thecustomer, an identification of an account that the customer has with theretailer or enterprise, and/or an identification of an application thatis executing on the PED and that corresponds to the retailer orenterprise. The particular customer's identity may be utilized to accessthe customer's risk profile, which may include data corresponding toprevious interactions that a particular customer has had with theretailer or enterprise. The data stored in the particular customer'srisk profile may in turn be utilized to determine a risk scorecorresponding to the particular customer accessing the secured item. Ifthe risk score indicates an acceptable risk, the item may beautomatically and remotely unsecured (e.g., the electronic lock may beautomatically and remotely unlocked) so that the particular customer isable to access and handle the item. On the other hand, if the risk scoreindicates an unacceptable risk, an agent of the retailer enterprise(e.g., an employee, a store associate, security personnel, etc.) may benotified so that the electronic lock may be manually unlocked for theparticular customer in the presence of the agent. As such, the systems,methods, and techniques described herein allow a retailer enterprise toremotely permit access to a customer for high-value items/goods based ona risk profile of the customer, thereby decreasing the risk of theft aswell as decreasing the length of time that a qualified customer mustwait in order to access secured items, as will be described below.

Turning now to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates an overall system 100including various components configured to implement various embodimentsfor mitigating the risk of retail theft. In particular, the system 100may include various components configured to trigger the remoteunlocking of secured receptacles in a manner that mitigates the risk ofretail theft. The system 100 may include a combination of hardware andsoftware components, as well as various data communication channels forcommunicating data between and among the various hardware and softwarecomponents. The system 100 may be roughly divided into front-endcomponents 102 and back-end components 104. At least one of thefront-end components 102 may be primarily disposed within a retailnetwork 110 that may include one or more physical retail stores 112 ofan enterprise or retailer. The physical retail stores 112 may belocated, by way of example rather than limitation, in separategeographic locations from each other, including different areas of thesame city, different cities, or even different states. According to thepresent embodiments, each of the physical retail stores 112 may be a“brick and mortar” store that may include one or more physical buildingsor structures, where each of the physical retail stores 112 mayaccommodate shoppers and customers. A brick and mortar store may bedistinguished from a mail-order store of the retailer enterprise, andmay be distinguished from an electronic store, on-line store, or websiteof the retailer or enterprise.

The front-end components 102 may include a number of workstations 128 orcomputing devices. The workstations 128 may be local computers locatedin the various physical retail stores 112 throughout the retail network110 and may be capable of executing various applications. Retail storepersonnel or agents (not shown) may use the applications executing atthe workstations 128 to, for example, access customer information,access images, enter payment information, and/or perform other datamanagement functions associated with the physical retail stores 112.

Personal electronic devices (PEDs, also referred to herein as mobiledevices or client devices) 206-216 (e.g., personal computers, cellularphones, smart phones, tablets, other handheld electronic devices, etc.)may be communicatively connected to the physical retail stores 112and/or to the back end components 104 through one or more digitalnetworks 130, as described below. The client devices 206-216 may, butneed not be, disposed within the retail network 110. Further, particularones of the client devices 206-216 may be operated by customers of theretailer or enterprise, while other ones of the client devices 206-216may be operated by agents of the retailer or enterprise, e.g., as mobileinstances of the workstations 128.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the front-endcomponents 102 may also comprise a plurality of facility servers 126disposed at the plurality of physical retail stores 112 instead of, orin addition to, a plurality of workstations 128. In an exampleconfiguration, each of the physical retail stores 112 may include one ormore facility servers 126 that may facilitate communications between theworkstations 128 of the physical retail stores 112 via the digitalnetwork(s) 130, and may store information for a plurality ofcustomers/employees/accounts/etc. associated with each facility. Ofcourse, a local digital network 184 may also operatively connect each ofthe workstations 128 to the facility server 126. Unless otherwiseindicated, any discussion of the workstations 128 may also refer to thefacility servers 126, and vice versa. Moreover, environments other thanthe physical retail stores 112 may employ the workstations 128 and theservers 126.

The front-end components 102 may communicate with the back-endcomponents 104 via the digital communication network(s) 130. One or moreof the front-end components 102 may be excluded from communicating withthe back-end components 104 by configuration or by limiting access dueto security concerns. For example, certain ones of the client devices206-216 may be excluded from direct access or only provided with limitedaccess to the back-end components 104. In some embodiments, the physicalretail stores 112 may communicate with the back-end components via thedigital network(s) 130. In other embodiments, the physical retail stores112 and the client devices 206-216 may communicate with the back-endcomponents 104 via the same portions of the digital network 130, butdigital access rights, IP masking, and other network configurations maydeny access to the client devices 206-216. In an embodiment, the network130 may include respective, local wireless communication networksprovided in or near the physical retail stores 112 via which clientdevices 206-216 may communicatively connect to other front-endcomponents 102 and/or to the back-end components 104. The network 130may additionally or alternatively support communicative connectionsbetween applications 118 executing on the devices 206-216 and theback-end components 104. For example, the applications 118 may include aweb-browser and/or a downloaded retailer client application that maycommunicate with one or more back-end components 104 via the network130.

The digital network(s) 130 may be a proprietary network, a secure publicInternet, a virtual private network or some other type of network, suchas dedicated access lines, plain ordinary telephone lines, satellitelinks, wireless links, wired links, combinations of these, etc. Wherethe digital network 130 comprises the Internet, data communication maytake place over the digital network 130 via an Internet communicationprotocol. In addition to one or more servers 202 that are configured tocommunicate with client or front-end applications (e.g., as describedbelow), the back-end components 104 may include the central processingsystem 140.

Of course, the physical retail stores 112 may be communicativelyconnected to different back-end components 104 having one or morefunctions or capabilities that are similar to the central processingsystem 140. The central processing system 140 may include one or morecomputer processors 162 adapted and configured to execute varioussoftware applications and components of the system 100, in addition toother software applications. The central processing system 140 mayfurther include one or more databases 146. The database(s) 146 maycomprise one or more data storage devices that are adapted to store datarelated to the operation of the system 100, such as product data and/orcustomer data. In particular, the database(s) 146 may store informationassociated with items/products and/or services that are available forsale in various ones of the physical retail stores 112. For example, thedatabase(s) 146 may store locations of the items/products (e.g., aislenumber or other information), pricing information, availability andinventory information, coupon(s) associated with the items/productsand/or services, and more detailed information associated with theitems/products and/or services (e.g., product descriptions).Additionally or alternatively, the database(s) 146 may store informationrelated to various customers or users associated with the retailer,e.g., user accounts. The central processing system 140 may access datastored in the database(s) 146 when executing various functions and tasksassociated with the operation of the system 100. The central processingsystem 140 may also maintain and update the data stored in thedatabase(s) 146. For example, the central processing system 140 maygenerate coupons for the items/products and/or services, updateavailability and inventory information (such as if a certain product ispurchased from one of the physical retail stores 112), and/or updatepasswords, user preferences, and default payment methods for varioususers.

To support the mitigation of the risk of retail theft at the physicalretail stores 112, the databases(s) 146 may include a customer riskprofile data store 148 and an item profile data store 150. The customerrisk profile store 148 may store therein customer-specific data that isor may be indicative of whether or not a particular customer isassociated with an increased level of risk to the retailer orenterprise. As such, a particular customer's risk profile that is storedin the risk profile store 148 may include data corresponding to thecustomer's on-line browsing habits, purchases, returns, and/or otherelectronic interactions with the enterprise or retailer, and theparticular customer's risk profile may include data corresponding to thecustomer's bricks-and-mortar storefront purchases, returns, and/or otherinteractions with the enterprise or retailer at retail store locations.For example, a particular customer's risk profile may include dataindicative of whether or not the customer has a past history of unpaiditems, whether or not the customer has a past history of returningitems, whether or not a customer has had a check returned withinsufficient funds, etc. The item profile store 150 may store thereinitem-specific data that is indicative of whether or not a particularitem is associated with increased level of risk. For example, aparticular item profile stored in the item profile store 150 may includedata indicative of the value of the particular item, whether or not theparticular item has a history of being shoplifted or stolen, etc.

With regard to the database(s) 146, it should be appreciated thatadditional data and additional techniques for maintaining and updatingthe data are appreciated. It should also be appreciated that althoughthe database(s) 146 is shown as a single entity in FIG. 1A, the database146 may be implemented using any one or more databases and any one ormore data storage devices. For example, the database(s) 146 may beimplemented by a data bank or a data cloud.

Further, although FIG. 1A depicts the system 100 as including thecentral processing system 140 in communication with three physicalretail stores 112 and various client devices 206-216, it should beunderstood that different numbers of processing systems, retail stores,and devices may be utilized. For example, the digital network(s) 130 (orother digital networks, not shown) may interconnect the centralprocessing system 140 to a plurality of included central processingsystems 140, hundreds of physical retail stores 112, and thousands ofclient devices 206-216. According to the disclosed example, thisconfiguration may provide several advantages, such as, for example,enabling near real-time uploads and downloads of information as well asperiodic uploads and downloads of information. This may provide for aprimary backup of all the information generated in supportedfunctionalities. Alternatively, some of the physical retail stores 112may store data locally on the facility server 126 and/or theworkstations 128.

FIG. 1A also depicts one possible embodiment of the central processingsystem 140. The central processing system 140 may have a controller 155operatively connected to the database 146 via a link 156 connected to aninput/output (I/O) circuit 166. It should be noted that, while notshown, additional databases may be linked to the controller 155 in aknown manner.

The controller 155 may include a program memory 160, the processor 162(which may be called a microcontroller or a microprocessor), arandom-access memory (RAM) 164, and the input/output (I/O) circuit 166,all of which may be interconnected via an address/data bus 165. Itshould be appreciated that although only one microprocessor 162 isshown, the controller 155 may include multiple microprocessors 162.Similarly, the memory of the controller 155 may include multiple RAMs164 and multiple program memories 160. Although the I/O circuit 166 isshown as a single block, it should be appreciated that the I/O circuit166 may include a number of different types of I/O circuits. The RAM(s)164 and the program memories 160 may be implemented as semiconductormemories, magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readablememories, for example. A link 135 may operatively connect the controller155 to the digital network 130 through the I/O circuit 166.

The program memory 160 may also contain or be configured withmachine-readable instructions (i.e., software) 171, for execution by theprocessor 162. The software 171 may perform the various tasks associatedwith operation of the retail stores, and may be a single module 171 or aplurality of modules 171A, 171B. While the software 171 is depicted inFIG. 1A as including two modules, 171A and 171B, the software 171 mayinclude any number of modules accomplishing tasks related to retailstore operation. The central processing system 140 may implement aserver application 113 for providing data to a user interfaceapplication 111 operating on the workstations 128.

Further, although FIG. 1A illustrates the central processing system 140as including only one controller 155, it is understood that this is forease of illustration and is not meant to be limiting. Indeed, in someembodiments of the system 100, the central processing system 140 may beimplemented using multiple controllers 155 that have a unitary orintegral logical appearance. For example, the central processing system140 may be implemented as a bank of servers or on a computing cloud.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the system 100 for mitigating the risk of retailtheft may include one or more security modules 152. Typically, eachfacility server 126 may include a respective security module 152.However, in some implementations, security modules 152 may be disposedat the front end 102 in one or more workstations 128 and/or in one ormore client devices 206-216, e.g., as a portion of a client applicationprovided by the retailer or enterprise or as a separate application 118.In some implementations, security modules 152 may be disposed at theback end 104 at the central processing system 140, e.g., as a portion ofa server application or as a separate application 113, and/or as one ofthe software modules 171. Some security modules 152 each may be disposedat a single location or device. Some security modules 152 each may bedisposed across multiple locations and/or devices, such as when aparticular instance of a security module 152 is instantiated by a firstportion downloaded onto a client device 206-216 and a second portionexecuting at a facility server 126. Generally speaking, the one or moresecurity modules 152 included in the system 100 may operate inconjunction with the risk profile store 148 (and optionally the itemprofile store 150) to mitigate the risk of retail theft atbrick-and-mortar retail store locations 112, as will be described inmore detail in later sections. Accordingly, the one or more securitymodules 152, the risk profile store 148, and optionally the item profilestore 150 may comprise a security system or security subsystem includedin the system 100 for mitigating the risk of retail theft. Of course,other components illustrated in and/or discussed with respect to FIGS.1A-1D may also be included in the security system or security subsystem,in some embodiments.

At any rate, for purposes of implementing the system 100, a user mayinteract with the server 202 and the retail store systems (e.g., thecentral processing system 140, the facility servers 126, theworkstations 128, etc.) via one of the client devices 206-216 via amobile device application, a specialized application, or one or more webpages 118. In an example, FIG. 1B depicts the server 202 connected viathe network 130 to the client devices 206-216 executing or runningapplications 118 through which a user may initiate and interact with thesystem 100 (as shown in FIG. 1A). The client devices or PEDs 206-216 mayinclude, by way of example, a tablet computer 206, an internet-enabledcell phone 208, a personal digital assistant (PDA) 210, a smart phone212, a laptop computer 214, a desktop computer 216, a portable mediaplayer (not shown), and/or others. Further, each application 118executing on its respective host device 206-216 may be a web browser, aclient application provided by the retailer or enterprise, or some otherclient application via which a communicative connection or session maybe established with the server 202, e.g., to access the electronicretail store of the retailer, and/or to access user account information.In an embodiment, one or more security modules 152 may be incorporatedinto a client application 118, or may be implemented as a stand-aloneapplication or module 118 executing on the client device 206-216.

The client devices 206-216 need not necessarily communicate with thenetwork 130 via a wired connection. In some instances, the clientdevices 206-216 may communicate with the network 130 via wirelesssignals 220 and, in some instances, may communicate with the network 130via an intervening wireless or wired device 218, which may be a wirelessrouter, a wireless repeater, a wireless access point, a base transceiverstation of a mobile telephony provider, etc. Each of the client devices206-216 may interact with the server 202 to receive web pages or serverdata from the server 202 and may display the web pages or server datavia its respective client application 118 (described below). Forexample, the mobile device 212 may display a home screen 222 (i.e., theroot or start page at which users enter the client application) of theretailer client application 118 to the user, may receive an input fromthe user, and may interact with the server 202 depending on the type ofuser-specified input. It will be appreciated that although only oneserver 202 is depicted in FIG. 1B, multiple servers 202 may be providedfor the purpose of distributing server load, serving different webpages, implementing different portions of the electronic retail storeweb interface, servicing different retailer client applications, etc.These multiple servers 202 may include a web server, an entity-specificserver (e.g. an Apple® server, etc.), a server that is disposed in aretail or proprietary network, an independent third-party server that isnot under the control of the entity, a bank of servers, a cloudcomputing platform, or others.

Turning now to FIG. 10, the server 202, like the facility server 126,may include a controller 224. Similar to the controllers 155 and 170,the controller 224 may include a program memory 226, a microcontrolleror a microprocessor (MP) 228, a random-access memory (RAM) 230, and aninput/output (I/O) circuit 234, all of which may be interconnected viaan address/data bus 232. In some embodiments, the controller 224 mayalso include, or otherwise be communicatively connected to, a database239 or other data storage mechanism (e.g., one or more hard disk drives,optical storage drives, solid state storage devices, etc.). The database239 may include data such as customer web profiles, product data, mobiledevice application data, web page templates and/or web pages, and otherdata that may be used to interact with the user through the network 130.According to embodiments, the database 239 may store the same or similardata as that stored by the database 146 as discussed with respect toFIG. 1A. For example, the database 239 may include at least a portion ofthe customer risk profile data store 148 and/or at least a portion ofthe item profile data store 150. Further, the database 239 may beimplemented on one or more data storage devices.

As discussed with reference to the controllers 155 and 170, it should beappreciated that although FIG. 10 depicts only one microprocessor 228,the controller 224 may include multiple microprocessors 228. Similarly,the memory of the controller 224 may include multiple RAMs 230 andmultiple program memories 226. Although the FIG. 10 depicts the I/Ocircuit 234 as a single block, the I/O circuit 234 may include a numberof different types of I/O circuits. The controller 224 may implement theRAM(s) 230 and the program memories 226 as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, forexample.

In addition to being connected through the network 130 to the clientdevices 206-216, as depicted in FIG. 1B, FIG. 10 illustrates that theserver 202 may also be connected through the network 130 to the centralprocessing system 140 and/or one or more facility servers 126. Asdescribed below, the connection of the server 202 to the centralprocessing system 140 may assist in facilitating variousfunctionalities. As a result, the server 202 may act as a routing orinterfacing server between the plurality of client devices 206-216 and adestination server, namely, the central processing system 140. Forexample, the server 202 may be configured to communicate with thecentral processing system 140 and with the client devices 206-216 via amultitude of protocols, such as packet-switched protocols, web services,web APIs (Application Programming Interface), etc. The server 202 mayalso convert (if necessary) and route client application data (notshown) to the appropriate server, such as the central process system 140for example. Additionally, the server 202 may act as the destinationserver and need not route any data from the internet-enabled device206-216.

As shown in FIG. 10, the program memory 226 and/or the RAM 230 may storevarious applications for execution by the microprocessor 228. Forexample, a user-interface application 236 may provide a user interfaceto the server 202, which user interface may, for example, enable anetwork administrator to configure, troubleshoot, or test variousaspects of the server's operation, or otherwise to access informationthereon. A server application 238 may operate to populate and transmitclient application data and web pages to the client devices 206-216,receive information from the user transmitted back to the server 202,and forward appropriate data to the central processing system 140 andthe facility servers 126.

Like the software 171 of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the server application 238 maybe a single module 238 or a plurality of modules 238A, 238B. While theserver application 238 is depicted in FIG. 10 as including two modules,238A and 238B, the server application 238 may include any number ofmodules that may facilitate tasks related to the implementation of theserver 202. By way of example, the module 238A may populate and transmitthe client application data and/or may receive and evaluate inputs fromthe user to receive a data access request, while the module 238B maycommunicate with one or more of the back end components 104 to fulfill adata access request. In an embodiment, one or more security modules 152may be incorporated into a server application 238, or may be implementedas a stand-alone application or module 238.

Referring now to FIG. 1D, the mobile device 212 (or any of the clientdevices 206-216) may include a display 240, a Global Positioning System(GPS) unit 244 (which may include respective one or more sensors), acommunication unit 258 (which may include respective one or moreinterfaces and/or transceivers, at least some of which may be wireless),an image capture device 256, a user-input device (not shown), and, likethe server 202, a controller 242. Similar to the controllers 155 and224, the controller 242 includes a program memory 246, one or moremicrocontroller or a microprocessor (MP) 248, a random-access memory(RAM) 250, and an input/output (I/O) circuit 254, all of which may beinterconnected via an address/data bus 252.

The program memory 246 may include an operating system 260, a datastorage 262, a plurality of software applications 264, and a pluralityof software routines 268. The operating system 260, for example, mayinclude one of a plurality of mobile platforms such as the iOS®,Android™, Palm® webOS, Windows Mobile/Phone, BlackBerry® OS, or Symbian®OS mobile technology platforms, developed by Apple® Inc., Google® Inc.,Palm® Inc. (now Hewlett-Packard Company®), Microsoft Corporation®,Research in Motion® (RIM), and Nokia®, respectively. The data storage262 may include data such as user profiles, application data for theplurality of applications 264, routine data for the plurality ofroutines 268, and other data necessary to interact with the server 202,the facility servers 126, or the server applications 113 through thedigital network 130. In some embodiments, the controller 242 may alsoinclude, or otherwise be communicatively connected to, other datastorage mechanisms (e.g., one or more hard disk drives, optical storagedrives, solid state storage devices, etc.) that may reside within themobile device 212.

The GPS unit 244 may use “Assisted GPS” (A-GPS), satellite GPS, or anyother suitable global positioning protocol, transceivers, sensors, orsystem that locates the position of the mobile device 212. For example,A-GPS utilizes terrestrial cell phone towers or Wi-Fi hotspots (e.g.,wireless router points) to more accurately and more quickly determinelocation of the mobile device 212 while satellite GPS generally may bemore useful in more remote regions that may lack cell towers or Wi-Fihotspots. The communication unit or module 258 may communicate with theserver 202 and other devices via one or more transceivers that supportany one or more suitable wireless communication protocol network ornetworks, such as a wireless cellular telephony network (e.g., GSM,CDMA, LTE, etc.), a WLAN network (or other similar network according to802.11 standards), a WiMAX network, a short-range wireless communicationnetwork (e.g., Bluetooth, Zigbee, infrared, etc.), and/or others.

The image capture device 256 may be a built-in camera within the mobiledevice 212 or may be an external camera, such as a webcam, that iscommunicatively coupled with the mobile device 212 (or any otherinternet-enabled device 206-216). The user-input device or generally auser interface (not shown) may include a “soft” keyboard that isdisplayed on the display 240 of the mobile device 212, an externalhardware keyboard communicating via a wired or a wireless connection(e.g., a Bluetooth keyboard), an external mouse, or any other suitableuser-input device. The user interface (which may include the display240) may be configured to present information to the user and/or receiveinputs from the user, and may accordingly include a set of I/Ocomponents (e.g., capacitive or resistive touch sensitive input panels,keys, buttons, lights, LEDs, cursor control devices, haptic devices, andothers). In embodiments, the display 240 may be a touchscreen displayusing singular or combinations of display technologies and can include athin, transparent touch sensor component superimposed upon a displaysection that is viewable by a user. For example, such displays includecapacitive displays, resistive displays, surface acoustic wave (SAW)displays, optical imaging displays, and the like.

As discussed with reference to the controllers 155 and 224, it should beappreciated that although FIG. 1D depicts only one microprocessor 248,the controller 242 may include multiple microprocessors 248. Similarly,the memory of the controller 242 may include multiple RAMs 250 andmultiple program memories 246. Although the FIG. 1D depicts the I/Ocircuit 254 as a single block, the I/O circuit 254 may include a numberof different types of I/O circuits. The controller 242 may implement theRAM(s) 250 and the program memories 246 as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, forexample.

The one or more processors 248 may be adapted and configured to executeany one or more of the plurality of software applications 264 and/or anyone or more of the plurality of software routines 268 residing in theprogram memory 242, in addition to other software applications. One ofthe plurality of applications 264 may be a client application 266 thatmay be implemented as a series of machine-readable instructions forperforming the various tasks associated with receiving information at,displaying information on, and transmitting information from the mobiledevice 212. One of the plurality of applications 264 may be a native webbrowser 270, such as, for example, Apple's Safari®, Google Android™mobile web browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer® for Mobile, OperaMobile™, that may be implemented as a series of machine-readableinstructions for receiving, interpreting, and displaying web pageinformation from the server 202, the facility servers 126, or the serverapplications 113 while also receiving inputs from the user.

Another application of the plurality of applications 264 may include alocation awareness application 276 that may be implemented as a seriesof machine-readable instructions for receiving, interpreting, anddisplaying location information of the mobile device 212 (or any otherinternet-enabled device 206-216), e.g., as determined based oninformation detected or determined by the GPS unit 244 and/or by thecommunication unit or module 258. One of the plurality of routines 268may include an image capture routine 272 that coordinates with the imagecapture device 256 to retrieve image data for use with one or more ofthe plurality of applications, such as the client application 266, orfor use with other routines. Another routine in the plurality ofroutines 268 may include an image display routine 274 that receives andinterprets image data of any type or format for display. Likewise, theimage display routine 274 may coordinate with the image capture routine272 to obtain image data and process the image data into a displayableformat for use with the client application 266.

Yet another application of the plurality of applications 264 may includea client application 266 that allows a user to interact with theenterprise or retailer, either electronically and/or to enhance thecustomer's retail experience within a bricks-and-mortar store. Thecustomer or user may launch the client application 266 from aninternet-enabled device, such as one of the client devices 206-216, toaccess the server 202 cooperating with the central processing system 140and the retail network 110. Additionally, the customer or the user mayalso launch or instantiate any other suitable user interface application118 (e.g., the web browser 270, or any other one of the plurality ofsoftware applications 264) to access the server 202, the facilityservers 126, or the server applications 113. Generally, the term “user”is used when referring to a person who is operating one of the clientdevices 206-216 and is not exclusive of the term “customer.” Forexample, multiple users may utilize a particular customer's account,such as when children utilize their parent's account. As describedabove, one or both of the databases 146 and 239, illustrated in FIGS. 1Aand 1C, respectively, may include various information about the retailstore's customers, as well as basic biographical information about thecustomer, such as a customer name, a customer address, a customer phonenumber, coupons redeemed by the customer, and the like. Customer accountrecords are among the exemplary data that the system 100 may store onthe databases 146 and 239.

In an embodiment, the client application 266 may include a securitymodule 152 that operates in conjunction with the client application 266to mitigate the risk of retail theft for the enterprise or retailer. Inother embodiments, the security module 152 may be implemented as aseparate application 264 which may or may not be in communicativeconnection with the client application 266.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentincludes a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard random accessmemory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB) drive, orthe like) having computer-readable program code embodied therein,wherein the computer-readable program code is adapted to be executed bythe processor 248 (e.g., working in connection with the operating system260) to facilitate the functions as described herein. In this regard,the program code may be implemented in any desired language, and may beimplemented as machine code, assembly code, byte code, interpretablesource code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java, Actionscript,Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML, and/or others).

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 depicts an example layout of an examplephysical retail store 272 of a retailer or enterprise (such as thephysical retail store 112 as described with respect to FIG. 1A). In theexample depicted in FIG. 2, the physical retail store 272 may includedifferent departments or sections (as shown: photo, pharmacy, health,and food/drink); however it should be appreciated that other types ofretail stores and general environments are envisioned. Each of thedifferent departments or sections may include various components,devices, or the like. For example, as depicted in store 272, the photosection may include one or more printers 289 that may be configured toprint digital images.

Customers or users 280, 282 may enter the retail store, browse in thevarious departments or sections, and/or purchase any desireditems/products or services. Each of the customers 280, 282 may beequipped with a respective electronic device 281, 283 (such as one ofthe client devices 206-216 as described with respect to FIG. 1A). Eachelectronic device 281, 283 may be any type of portable electronicdevice, for example, a notebook computer, a tablet, a mobile phone, aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a tablet computer, amultimedia player, an MP3 or MP4 player, a digital or analog broadcastreceiver, a remote controller, or any other electronic apparatus.

According to embodiments, the physical retail store 272 may supportvarious wireless local area networks (WLAN) and/or wireless personalarea networks (WPAN) to which the electronic devices 281, 283 mayconnect, either in a secured or unsecured manner. In an embodiment, oneor more wireless local area networks and/or wireless personal areanetworks that are accessible within or near the physical retail storemay be included in the network 130 of FIG. 1. In one particularimplementation, the physical retail store 272 may include one or morewireless access points (AP) 284 to which the electronic devices 281, 283may connect, e.g. via a suitable transceiver and a WLAN connection.Accordingly, when the electronic devices 281, 283 are connected to theAP 284, the electronic devices 281, 283 may be connected to the localarea network implemented within the physical retail store 272 (i.e., thephysical retail store 272 may be a “hotspot” and/or may provide Wi-Ficonnectivity to the devices 281, 283).

The physical retail store 272 may also be configured with a plurality oftransmitters or transceivers 285, 286, 287, 288 (e.g., “beacons”) thatmay be disposed throughout the area of the physical retail store 272.Although FIG. 2 depicts the physical retail store 272 supporting four(4) transmitters 285-288, it should be appreciated that the physicalretail store 272 may support fewer or additional transmitters. Theplurality of transmitters 285-288 may be disposed in various locationsof the physical retail store 272. Each of the plurality of transmitters285-288 may be secured to various components of the physical retailstore 272 (e.g., shelves, ceiling, receptacles, containers, doors,etc.). Each of the plurality of transmitters 285-288 may include anycombination of hardware and software components, including a module fortransmitting or broadcasting signals. Further, each of the plurality oftransmitters 285-288 may be configured to be powered by a battery or viaanother power source.

According to embodiments, each of the plurality of transmitters ortransceivers 285-288 may support one or more short-range communicationprotocols as radio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth®,Bluetooth® low energy (BLE), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), nearfield communication (NFC), ZigBee, other protocols defined under theIEEE 802 standard, and/or other technologies. Each of the plurality oftransmitters 285-288 may also be configured to broadcast or transmit asignal that may include any stored data. In one embodiment, each of theplurality of transmitters 285-288 may continuously broadcast a signalthat may include a unique identifier of the corresponding transmitter285-288.

The signals that the transmitters or transceivers 285-288 broadcast mayhave an associated detection range depending on the type ofcommunication protocol. Generally, Bluetooth® signals have a range of100 meters and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) signals have a range of 50meters. The detection range of the signal that the transmitters 285-288broadcast may also vary and may be programmable. For example, the rangeof a first signal that is broadcast by the transmitter 285 may befifteen (15) meters while the range of a second signal that is broadcastby the transmitter 286 may be twenty-five (25) meters.

When one of the electronic devices 281, 283 is within broadcast range ofone of the transmitters/transceivers 285-288, the electronic devices281, 283 can detect and receive the signal, e.g., via a suitabletransceiver of the electronic device 281, 283. In particular, acommunication module of the electronic devices 281, 283 that supports ashort range communication protocol (e.g., a BLE chip) can detect andreceive the signal. For example, FIG. 1 depicts an example communicationmodule 258 which may be included in the device 281 and/or 283, and FIG.2 depicts the electronic device 281 detecting the signal broadcast bythe transmitter 285 via its communication module 258.

According to embodiments, the electronic devices 281, 283 (and anyapplication executing thereon) may facilitate various features tomitigate the risk of retail theft when connected to various ones of theconnections within the physical retail store 272. In particular, theelectronic devices 281, 283 may detect one or more of thetransmitters/transceivers 285-288, and/or may connect to (or may detectthe availability of) the access point 284. Based on the electronicpresence of the electronic devices 281, 283 within the physical retailstore 272, the facility server 126 may in turn connect to an on-siteserver or a remote server to facilitate the mitigation of the risk ofretail theft, as is described in more detail below.

FIG. 3 depicts an example portion 300 of the system 100 of FIG. 1 ingreater detail. The portion 300 includes an area or section 302 of theexample physical retail store 272 of FIG. 2 that includes therein aportion of the front end-system 102 of FIG. 1. The portion 300 alsoincludes a portion 304 of the backend system 104 of FIG. 1. The portion300 may operate to mitigate the risk of retail theft in the physicalretail store 272, for example. Thus, for ease of discussion, FIG. 3 isdiscussed with simultaneous reference to FIGS. 1A-1D and FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the area or section 302 of the physical retailstore 272 may include one or more receptacles 305, each of whichrespectively houses or stores one or more items 308 therein, such asretail items offered for sale by the retailer. The items 308 are securedwithin their respective receptacle 305 via an electronic lock 310 thatmay be electronically activated and deactivated. For example, asdepicted in FIG. 3, the receptacle 305 a stores one or more items 308 atherein, and the receptacle 305 a as a whole is secured via a singleelectronic lock 310 a, e.g., by locking a cover, flap, slot, or door ofthe receptacle 305 a using the electronic lock 310 a. Also asillustrated in FIG. 3, the receptacle 305 b stores one or more items 308b therein, however, the receptacle 305 b as a whole is not secured by anelectronic lock 310. Rather, each item 308 b is secured to thereceptacle 305 b via a respective electronic lock 310 b, eitherindividually and/or in groups of items. For example, the receptacle 305b may be a shelf, rack, bin, or other type of receptacle.

Typically, the types of items 308 that are secured within or to thereceptacles 305 in the retail store 272 have particular characteristicsthat render the items 308 as having a higher risk of being shoplifted orstolen. Such characteristics may include, for example, a relatively highvalue or cost, a relatively high black market or resale value or demand,a history of being shoplifted, a requirement for checking customer's agebefore purchase, etc.

Additionally, each receptacle 305 in the area or section 302 of theexample physical retail store 272 is associated with a correspondingwireless transceiver 312. The wireless transceiver 312 may be disposedor located on or at the receptacle 305 (as is illustrated by thetransceiver 312 a), or the transceiver may be disposed or locatedproximate to the receptacle 305, e.g., within sufficient proximity ofthe receptacle 305 so that a mobile device 315, when operated by acustomer who is in vicinity of the receptacle 305 and who may beinterested in handling the items 308 stored therein, is able to detectsignals generated by the wireless transceiver 312, e.g., when thecustomer device 315 is within the detection range of the transceiver 312(as is illustrated by the transceiver 312 b). The customer device 315may be one of the mobile devices 206-214 or 281, 283, for example, andthe wireless transceiver 312 may be one of the transmitters 285-288which may support a short-range communication protocol such asradio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® low energy(BLE), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), near field communication (NFC),ZigBee, other protocols defined under the IEEE 802 standard, and/orother technologies. For example, the wireless transceiver 312 maytransmit (e.g., continuously or intermittently) a beacon signal using ashort-range communication protocol, or may transmit some other suitablewireless signal that is able to be detected and/or discovered by thecustomer device 315 when the customer device 315 is within the detectionrange of the wireless transceiver 312.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the transceivers 312 and the electroniclocks 310 within the physical retail store 272 may be communicativelyconnected to the store's facility server 126, e.g., in a manner such aspreviously discussed with respect to FIG. 2. Typically, the transceivers312 and the electronic locks 310 may be connected to the facility server126 via any number of in-store wired and/or wireless network connectionsor network(s) 318, and the connections via which the transceivers 312and the electronic locks 310 may be secured and are not accessible tothe public. In some configurations, the transceivers 312 and/or theelectronic locks 310 may be additionally or alternativelycommunicatively connected via the in-store network(s) 318 and one ormore external networks 130 to one or more components of the backendsystem 104, such as to the central processing system 140.

Still further as shown in FIG. 3, one or more devices 320 that are beingoperated by agents of the retailer or enterprise (e.g., storeassociates, risk management personnel, etc.) may be communicativelyconnected to the in-store network(s) 318. The agent device 320 may beone of the devices 206-216 or 281, 283, for example, and may be a mobiledevice or may be a stationary device. As such, the agent device 320 maybe communicatively connected to the facility server 126, theworkstations 128, and/or to the electronic locks 310, e.g., via awireless access point 284 or a wired connection 322, both of which maybe included in the in-store network(s) 318. In some situations, multipleagent devices 320 may be communicatively connected to the in-storenetwork(s) 318. Typically, the connections via which the agent devices320 are connected to the in-store network(s) 318 may be secured and notaccessible to the public.

To mitigate the risk of retail theft, the facility server 126 mayexecute thereon a local server security application 325 a which, in someembodiments, includes the security module 152 of FIG. 1 or an instancethereof. In some embodiments, one or more agent devices 320 may executethereon a respective local device security application 325 b. The localserver security application 325 a may operate in conjunction with one ormore local device security applications 325 b to mitigate the risk ofretail theft within the store 272. In some configurations, though,either the local server security application 325 a or the local devicesecurity applications 325 b may be omitted.

Now turning to the portion 304 of the backend system 104 depicted inFIG. 3, the portion 304 may include one or more applications and/orroutines 328 that support the retailer or enterprise. At least some ofthe applications 328 may be, for example, a server application 113 orsoftware module 171 at the central processing system 140, and/or atleast some of the applications 328 may be an application or module 238at the server 202. At any rate, the applications/routines 328 includedin the portion 304 of the backend system 104 may include a customerauthentication/verification module 330 that, when executed,authenticates and verifies an electronic presence of a customer, aserver application 332 that operates in conjunction with clientapplications 118 that are provided by the retailer enterprise anddownloaded to various customer devices 315, an application that managesa loyalty card or incentive program 335 provided by the retailer orenterprise, an application that manages an electronic or web-basedaccount of customers of the retailer or enterprise 338, and/or otherapplications/routines 340.

As further illustrated in FIG. 3, the application/routines 328 may haveaccess to at least a portion of the data stored in the database(s) 146.For example, the loyalty program application 335 may access dataindicative transactions and rewards that have been issued to customers,and the electronic customer account application 338 may access storedcredit card information.

To mitigate the risk of retail theft, the applications/routines 328 mayinclude a remote security application 342. In an embodiment, the remotesecurity application 342 includes an instance of the security module 152of FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the remote security application 342 maybe integrally implemented with one or more other applications 328, suchas with the customer authentication and verification application 330 orthe server application 332. The remote security application 342 mayoperate in conjunction with the local security application(s) 342 andmay access data stored in the customer risk profile store 148 andoptionally data stored in the item profile store 150 to utilize inmitigating the risk of retail theft, which may include the remotetriggering of secured receptacles, as is described below.

Specifically, FIG. 4 depicts an example signal diagram 400 associatedwith mitigating the risk of retail theft at a physical store of aretailer or enterprise, e.g., by automatically triggering the unlockingor un-securing of items for particular customers. For ease ofdiscussion, and not for limitation purposes, FIG. 4 is discussed withsimultaneous reference to FIGS. 1A-1D, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, although thesignal diagram 400 of FIG. 4 may be utilized with other systems andother computing devices.

The signal diagram 400 indicates a personal electronic device (PED) 405and a server 408. A user or customer of a retailer may operate thepersonal electronic device 405, for example, and the device 405 may be asmart phone, tablet, laptop, or other PED that is configured withwireless capabilities. For example, the personal electronic device 405may be one of the devices 206-214 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. The server 408 maycomprise one or more of the frontend components 102 of the retailer. Forexample, the server 408 may include a facility server 126 and/or one ormore workstations 128.

The signal diagram 400 also indicates a receptacle 410 disposed within aphysical retail store, into or in which one or more items are securedvia one or more electronic locks. For example, the receptacle 410 may beone of the receptacles 305 storing one or more items 308 that aresecured via one or more electronic locks 310, as illustrated in FIG. 3.Additionally, the receptacle 410 may include a transmitter and/or atransceiver disposed thereon, or within sufficient proximity of thereceptacle 410 so that the PED 405, when operated by a customer who maybe interested in handling the items stored within the receptacle 410 andis in the vicinity of the receptacle 410, is able to detect signalsgenerated by the transceiver/transmitter. The transmitter and/ortransceiver associated with the receptacle 410 may be the transceiver312 illustrated in FIG. 3, in an embodiment.

Additionally, the signal diagram 400 indicates a backend system 412. Inan embodiment, the backend system 412 is the back end portion 104 of thesystem 100 shown in FIG. 1A, and as such may include the centralprocessing system 140 and/or the server 202. At any rate, FIG. 4illustrates a database or data store 415 in which customer risk profilesare maintained, and a database or data store 418 in which item profilesare maintained. The data stores 415, 418 may be included in the backendsystem 412, or the data stores 415, 418 may be excluded from butnonetheless accessible to the backend system 412. In an embodiment, thedata store 415 comprises the risk profile store 148 of FIG. 1A, and thedata store 418 comprises the item profile store 150 of FIG. 1A.

The transceiver associated with the receptacle 410 may emit a beaconsignal 420, and when the PED 405 is disposed within the detection rangeof the transceiver, the PED 405 may automatically detect the beacon andthereby discover the transceiver associated with the receptacle 410(reference 422), thereby establishing a wireless communicationconnection between the PED 405 and transceiver associated with thereceptacle 410. In some embodiments, the wireless connection may beautomatically established, that is, the user of the PED 405 may not haveinitiated the discovery process and indeed, may be unaware of thediscovery process.

In some embodiments, though, the establishment of the wirelessconnection between the PED 405 and the transceiver associated with thereceptacle 410 may be triggered by the user of the PED 405. For example,the user may wish to access the items secured at the receptacle 410, andmay utilize an application executing on the device 405 to trigger theunlocking or un-securing of the items. The application may be anapplication 118 that is provided by the retailer or enterprise, e.g., aretailer client application, a loyalty card client application, etc.Alternatively, the application may be a web browser or equivalent viawhich the user accesses his or her electronic or web-based account withthe retailer or enterprise. At any rate, via the application executingon the Personal Electronic Device 405, the user may activate a usercontrol thereby initiating the discovery of the transceivercorresponding to the receptacle 410 (reference 422), and the eventualestablishment of the wireless connection between the PED 405 and thetransceiver corresponding to the receptacle 410.

Via the established wireless connection between the PED 405 and thetransceiver associated with the receptacle 410, the PED 405 may transmitor send an indication of an identity of a user or customer (reference425). The indication of the customer identity may comprise, for example,an identifier of the personal electronic device 405, such as anInternational Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI), a MobileEquipment Identifier (MEID), an International Mobile Subscriber Identity(IMSI), an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), an integrated circuit cardidentifier (ICC-ID) of a card or chip of the PED 405, a Telephone Number(TN), and/or other suitable identifier. Such types of identifiers may beautomatically transmitted or sent from the PED 405 to the transceivercorresponding to the receptacle 410 upon establishment of the wirelessconnection, e.g., as part of the header and/or payload in the signalingthat is exchanged to establish the wireless connection. In thesesituations, the communication 425 may be omitted, as the indication ofthe customer identity is included in the communication 422.

In some scenarios, the indication of the customer identity may comprisean identification of an account of the customer with the retailer orenterprise (e.g., a loyalty account, an electronic or web-based account,etc.), and/or of a user ID or login ID associated therewith. In somescenarios, such as when a retailer client application is executing onthe PED 405, the indication of the customer identity may comprise anidentifier of the client application itself, e.g., as tracked by aserver of the retailer or enterprise. At any rate, the indication of thecustomer identity may be automatically sent from the PED 405 to thetransceiver of the receptacle 410, or may be sent upon request of theuser or customer, e.g., by activating a user control at the PED 405.

Upon reception of the indication of the customer identity (reference428), the transceiver corresponding to the receptacle 410 may cause thecustomer identity indication (reference 430) and optionally anindication of the type of item secured at the receptacle 410 to betransmitted or sent to the backend system 412. In the scenarioillustrated in FIG. 4, the transceiver corresponding to the receptacle410 has a priori knowledge of the types of items being secured of thereceptacle 410, and sends an indication of the type of item along withthe customer identity indication directly to the backend system 412(reference 430), e.g., via the network 130. In some embodiments (notshown), the transceiver corresponding to the receptacle 410 may send anindication of the obtained customer identity information to the localserver 408 servicing the particular physical retail store, and theserver 408 may determine the type of item being secured at thereceptacle 410 (e.g., by accessing a store plan or database that mapsreceptacles to items), and the server 408 may transmit or send thecustomer identity indication and an indication of the type of item tothe back end system 412, e.g., via the network 130.

Upon reception of the customer identity indication and the indication ofthe type of item (reference 432), the back end server 412 mayauthenticate and verify the customer based on the customer identityindication (reference 435). For example, the back end server 412 mayutilize the authentication and verification application 330 to verifythe received customer identity indication against customer data storedin the customer risk profile database 415 (as shown in FIG. 4), oragainst customer data stored in some other suitable database. Using theauthenticated and verified customer identity, the backend server 412 maydetermine a risk score corresponding to the identified customer(reference 438). The risk score may be determined (438) based on riskprofile data corresponding to the customer identity and stored in thedatabase 415. As previously discussed, the customer's risk profile mayinclude data or information pertaining to the customer's productpurchases, product returns, bounced checks, payment history, on-linebrowsing habits, and/or other historical actions/events that thecustomer has had with the retailer or enterprise. In some embodiments,the risk score of the identified customer may be determined (438)further based on item profile data corresponding to the identified itemand stored in the database 418, such as data indicative of the value ofthe item, whether or not the item has a history of theft are beingstolen, etc. Different types of customer risk profile data and/or itemprofile data may be weighted differently to determine the risk score, ifdesired. In an embodiment, the customer risk profile database 415 maycomprise the customer risk profile data store 148 of FIG. 1A, and theitem profile database 418 may comprise the item profile data store 150of FIG. 1A.

The signal diagram 400 depicts the determined risk score beingtransmitted or sent from the back end server 412 to the local server 408that is servicing the physical retail store in which the receptacle 410is disposed (reference 440). At the local server 408, a determinationmay be made as to whether or not the risk score is indicative of anacceptable risk or of an unacceptable risk (reference 442). If the riskscore is indicative of an acceptable risk, the electronic lock(s)securing the items at the receptacle 410 may be automatically andremotely unlocked. For example, the local store server 408 may send aremote unlock signal, command, or instruction 445 to the electroniclock(s) associated with the receptacle 410, e.g., via the in-storenetwork(s) 318. A notification that the items have been remotelyunsecured/unlocked may be sent to the customer device 405, e.g., by thetransceiver proximate to the receptacle 410 as shown in FIG. 4, or bythe local server 408 (not shown in FIG. 4). Additionally oralternatively, an indication that the items have been remotelyunsecured/unlocked may be locally provided at or near the receptacle,e.g. via a light, display screen, or other indicator.

If the risk score is indicative of an unacceptable risk for an automaticunlocking of the receptacle 410, an agent of the retailer may benotified. For example, the local server 408 may transmit or send, to anagent device 450, a notification including an indication of the riskscore, the receptacle 410, the item secured at the receptacle 410, thevalue of the item secured at the receptacle 410, and/or the electroniclock(s) associated with the receptacle 410 (reference 448). Uponreception of the notification, an agent operating the device 450 mayevaluate the received information and make a decision as to whether heor she is to remotely unlock the receptacle 410 for the customer bycausing a remote unlock signal, command, or instruction to be sent tothe electronic lock (reference 452), or whether he or she is tophysically walk over to the receptacle 410 and manually open theelectronic lock(s) so that the agent may monitor customer's behavior. Inan embodiment, the agent may remotely unlock the receptacle 410 byactivating a user control at his or her device 450, thereby causing anunlock signal to be transmitted via the in-store network 318 to theelectronic lock(s) (reference 452), and thus causing the items at thereceptacle 410 to be automatically unsecured and made accessible to thecustomer. A notification that the items have been remotelyunsecured/unlocked may be sent to the customer device 405, e.g., by thetransceiver proximate to the receptacle 410 or by the agent device 450(not shown in FIG. 4). Additionally or alternatively, an indication thatthe items have been remotely unsecured/unlocked may be locally providedat or near the receptacle, e.g. via a light, display screen, or otherindicator.

In some configurations of the system 100, when the items at thereceptacle 410 are automatically unsecured (e.g., via the remote unlocksignal, command, or instruction 445 or the remote unlock signal,command, or instruction 452), a sensor disposed at the receptacle 410may detect the removal of items (reference 460) and may indicate theoccurrence or event of the removal to the local server 408 (reference462). For example, the sensor may be an RFID (Radio-FrequencyIdentification) or other suitable detector that is positioned to detecta movement of a corresponding tag that is affixed to an item that issecured at the receptacle 410. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a sensor455 a corresponding to receptacle 305 a is disposed at a location thatenables the sensor 455 a to detect the removal of items 308 a via theiraffixed tags 458 a, and a sensor 455 b corresponding to receptacle 305 bis disposed at a location that enables the sensor 455 b to detect theremoval of items 308 b via their affixed tags 458 b. In FIG. 4, upon thedetection of the removal of an item at the receptacle 410 (reference460), the sensor may cause a signal indicative of the item's removal tobe transmitted to the store server 126 (reference 462), e.g., via thein-store network(s) 318, so that the item may be tracked.

For example, the local server 408 may set a timer (reference 465)corresponding to when the item was removed from the receptacle 410. Theserver 408 may start the timer when the server 408 receives the signal462, or the server 408 may set the timer in accordance with a timestampincluded in the signal 462. The duration of the time interval for whichthe timer is set may be determined a priori, and the duration may bemodifiable. At any rate, if the item is purchased and/or otherwisescanned at a register within the retail store before the timer expires,the server 408 may cancel the timer (reference 468) and cause thepurchase and/or the scanning of the item to be reflected in thecustomer's risk profile stored at the database 415 (references 470 a,470 b). On the other hand, if the item has not been purchased and/orotherwise scanned at any register in the retail store when the timerexpires, as denoted in FIG. 4 by the reference 472, this event may beindicative of theft or some other undesirable condition relating to theremoved item. Accordingly, in this situation 472, the server 408 mayalert an agent of the retailer by sending an alert to the agent's device450 (reference 475). The alert may include an indication of the removeditem, the receptacle 410, the time at which the item was removed fromthe receptacle, and/or other data. Upon viewing the alert, the agent maytake the appropriate steps to recover the item and/or prevent loss ofthe item.

In some scenarios, after the item and/or receptacle 410 has beenremotely unlocked or unsecured, the item and/or the receptacle 410 mayautomatically be re-secured. For example, after reception of a remoteunlock signal 445, 452, a timer may be set, and the electronic lock mayautomatically re-lock after the timer's expiration (reference 478). Theduration of the timer may be configurable and modifiable, if desired.Additionally or alternatively, the electronic lock may automaticallyre-lock after the detection of the removal of an item (reference 462),and/or when instructed to do so by an agent device 450 (reference 480),e.g., upon activation of a corresponding user control at the agentdevice 450. In these manners, the maximum time during which an item isunsecured may be controlled to mitigate the risk of the item beingshoplifted or stolen.

FIGS. 5A-5B illustrate a flow chart of an example method 500 ofmitigating the risk of retail theft at physical retail stores of aretailer or enterprise. The method 500 may operate in conjunction withembodiments of the system 100 of FIGS. 1A-1D, the physical retail store272 of FIG. 2, the system portion 300 of FIG. 3, the signal diagram 400of FIG. 4, and/or other systems, stores, and/or signal diagrams. Forease of discussion, though, and not for limitation purposes, the method500 is discussed with simultaneous reference to FIGS. 1A-1D and FIGS.2-4.

In FIG. 5A, at a block 502, the method 500 may include determining anidentity of a customer based on a wireless transmission that isdelivered directly between (i) a transceiver corresponding to receptaclein or at which an item is housed and secured via an electronic lock, and(ii) a wireless electronic device, such as a customer's PersonalElectronic Device, that is located within communication range of thetransceiver. For example, referring to FIG. 3, the transceiver may beone of the wireless transceiver 312, and the receptacle may be one ofthe receptacles 305 in or at which items 308 are housed and secured viaone of the electronic locks 310.

In some embodiments, determining the identity of the customer based onwireless transmission may be based on the content of the payload of thewireless transmission. In some embodiments, determining the identity ofthe customer based on wireless position may be based on the content ofthe header of the wireless transmission. At any rate, whether thecustomer's identity is based on the wireless transmission's payloadand/or header, the identity of the customer may be determined based onan identification of the wireless electronic device, such as an IMEI,and MEID, and IMSI, and ESN, an ICC-ID of a card or chip included in thewireless electronic device, a TN, and/or another suitable identifier.Additionally or alternatively, the identity of the customer may bedetermined based on an identification of an account of the customer witha retailer or enterprise, such as a loyalty account, and electronic orweb-based account, etc., and/or of a user ID, login ID, or othercustomer-specific indicia associated therewith. In some embodiments, theidentity of the customer may be determined based on an identifier of theclient application that is executing on the customer device, e.g. astracked by a server of the retailer or enterprise.

At a block 505, the method 500 may include determining, based on thedetermined customer identity and on a risk profile of the customer, arisk score corresponding to the customer accessing the secured item. Therisk profile of the customer may be stored at one or more memories ordata storage devices included in a backend system of the retailer orenterprise, and may include data that is indicative of a history ofunpaid items corresponding to the customer, a history of returning itemscorresponding to the customer, a history of non-payment or insufficientfunds, history of alleged theft, etc. For example, the risk profile maybe stored at the customer risk profile data store 148 illustrated inFIG. 1A.

In an embodiment, determining the risk score corresponding to thecustomer accessing the secured item (block 505) may be further based onan item profile of the secured item. The identity or type of the secureditem may be ascertained from the wireless transmission, e.g., fromcontents of the payload identifying the secured item, and/or byidentifying the transceiver that received the wireless transmission. Theprofile of the secured item may be stored at one or memories or datastorage devices included in the backend system of the retailer orenterprise, and may include data that is indicative of a value of theitem, a likelihood of theft of the item, a resale market or demand forthe item, etc. For example, the item profile of the secured item may bestored at the item profile store 150 illustrated in FIG. 1A.

The method 500 may additionally include determining whether or not therisk score is indicative of an acceptable risk (block 508). For example,the determined risk score may be compared to a threshold to determinewhether or not the risk score is indicative of an acceptable risk. Atthe block 508, if the risk score is determined as being indicative of anacceptable risk, the method 500 may include automatically sending anelectronic signal to trigger the remote unlocking of the electronic lockat the receptacle at which the item is secured (block 510). Theelectronic signal may include a remote unlock command or instruction,for example, and the electronic signal may be automatically sent to theelectronic lock to release the secured item (e.g., in a manner such aspreviously discussed with respect to the signal 445 of FIG. 4).Alternatively, an electronic signal indicating that the electronic lockmay be remotely unlocked may be automatically sent to a device beingoperated by an agent of the retailer or enterprise, and the operatingagent may cause a remote unlock signal or command to be transmitted fromthe agent device to the electronic lock (e.g., in a manner such aspreviously discussed with respect to the signal 452 of FIG. 4).

On the other hand, if at the block 508 the risk score is determined asbeing indicative of an unacceptable risk, the method 500 may includesending an electronic signal to a device being operated by an agent ofthe retailer or enterprise (block 512). The signal may include anindication that the secured item is to be manually unlocked, or that thesituation requires an agent evaluation. If the signal indicates that thesecured item is to be manually unlocked, e.g., as determined at theblock 515, the agent may physically go to the receptacle and manuallyunlock the secured item so that the customer's handling of the item maybe monitored in the presence of the agent (block 518).

In some scenarios, as determined at the block 515, the signal receivedat the agent device may indicate that an agent evaluation is needed. Inthis situation, the signal may include data that is indicative of thedetermined risk score, an indication of the identity of the customer, anindication of the item, an indication of the receptacle, etc. The agentmay evaluate the received data (block 520). Based on his or herevaluation, the agent may decide to physically unlock the electroniclock so that the customer's handling of the item may be monitored in thepresence of the agent (block 518), or the agent may decide to causeelectronic lock to be remotely unlocked (e.g., in a manner such aspreviously discussed with respect to the signal 452 of FIG. 4) so thatthe customer has access to the secured item. For example, the agent mayactivate a user control at the agent device that causes an electronicsignal to be sent from the agent device to trigger the remote unlockingof the electronic lock at the receptacle at which the item is secured(block 510).

Turning now to FIG. 5B, the method 500 may optionally include blocks520-530, in some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 5B, the blocks 520-530may be executed when a remote unlock signal is sent to the electroniclock (block 510). At the block 520, the method 500 may includedetermining that an item has been removed from the receptacle. Thisdetermination may be made, for example, based on a detection, by asensor, of the movement of an electronic tag that is attached to theitem, in a manner such as previously described with respect to reference460 in FIG. 4. In an embodiment, the sensor and the electronic tag maycomprise RFID technology or some other suitable sensing technology.

At the block 522, the method 500 may include starting a timer for apre-determined time interval. The duration of the pre-determined timeinterval may be set a priori, and may be configurable. The start time ofthe pre-determined time interval may correspond to a time at which theitem removal was detected (block 520) and/or may correspond to a time atwhich the item removal was indicated to the facility server 126, forexample.

At the block 525, the method 500 may include determining whether or notthe removed item has been purchased, scanned, and/or otherwise processedor detected by a workstation 128, the facility server 126, and/or someother device within the in-store network 318 within the pre-determinedinterval. If the removed item has not been processed or detected withinthe pre-determined time interval, the method 500 may include sending analert to a device being operated by an agent of the retailer orenterprise (block 528), e.g., in a such as previously described withreferences 472, 475 of FIG. 4. The alert may include therein dataindicative of the removed item, the time of the item's removal, thereceptacle, the customer, etc. Based on the alert, the agent may takeappropriate loss prevention actions. Further, the customer's riskprofile may be updated to reflect the occurrence of the timer expiration(block 530).

If, at the block 525, the removed item has been processed or otherwisedetected within the pre-determined time interval, the method 500 mayproceed to update the risk profile of the customer accordingly (block530).

Thus, based on the events that transpire after the removal of the itemfrom the receptacle was detected or determined at the block 520, thecustomer's risk profile may be updated (block 530). The updated customerrisk profile may then be utilized in determining an updated risk scorecorresponding to automatically triggering the remote unlocking of itemsfor the customer in the future.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the method 500 may beperformed by one or more frontend components 102 of the system 100, andat least another portion of the method 500 may be performed by one ormore backend components 104 of the system 100. In other embodiments,such as when a facility server 126 of a retail store 112 is virtuallyimplemented external to the physical retail store 112, the entirety ofthe method 500 may be performed by one or more backend components 104 ofthe system 100 that provide a virtual facility server 126 to service thephysical retail store 112.

Returning again to FIG. 3, in some scenarios, the secured receptacle 305a may be particular to a customer, and may securely house items thathave been offered for sale and have been and/or are to be purchased bythe particular customer. For example, the secured receptacle 305 a maybe designated to be unlocked by only the particular customer (or byhis/her agent), e.g., to pick up an item that the customer haspreviously ordered, such as a filled prescription, an on-line order thatis to picked up at the receptacle 305 a, and the like. In thesescenarios, typically the receptacle 305 a is secured as a whole by asingle electronic lock 310 a.

Indeed, referring now to FIG. 6A, the retailer or enterprise may supporta plurality of receptacles 600 whose customer-facing secured accessmechanisms (e.g., doors, covers, flaps, slots, etc.) are individuallysecured/locked. For example, the plurality of secured receptacles 600may be a bank of lockers, cubicles, boxes, bins, cabinets, etc. ofdifferent sizes (e.g., different lengths, widths, depths), each of whichmay be electronically secured, e.g., in a manner similar to thatdescribed for receptacle 305 a and electronic lock 310 a of FIG. 3. Thebank of secured receptacles 600 may be located at the physical retailstore 372, or may be located at an alternate location. In somearrangements, the retailer or enterprise may support multiple banks ofsecured receptacles across multiple locations at which customers canaccess and pick up secured items. Customers may electronically gainaccess to a particular secured receptacle (e.g., receptacle 602 withelectronic lock 605) via the customer mobile device 315, such as in amanner described above. Alternatively, customers may electronically gainaccess to a particular secured receptacle (e.g., receptacle 602 withelectronic lock 605) via an on-site electronic device 608 correspondingto the bank of receptacles 600, or via the customer mobile device 315operating in conjunction with the on-site receptacle managementelectronic device 608, as is described in more detail later in thisdisclosure. The on-site receptacle management electronic device 608 maybe communicatively connected to each electronic lock included in thebank of receptacles 600, the facility server 126, and/or the back-endserver 328 via the network 130, for example.

For retail or enterprise personnel to load and secure customer itemsinto respective receptacles to await customer pickup, retail/enterprisepersonnel may unlock/access appropriate receptacles via thecustomer-facing access mechanisms (albeit via an enterprise mobiledevice using electronic security parameters that are different thanthose of the customer) to gain access to and load the receptacles.Additionally or alternatively, enterprise personnel may gain access toand load the receptacles via enterprise-facing access mechanisms. FIG.6B illustrates an embodiment of the latter, in which a bank ofreceptacles 620 is built into a wall 622. Respective, securedcustomer-facing access mechanisms (e.g., 625 a-625 c) for each of thereceptacles 620 are disposed on one side of the wall 622, andenterprise-facing access mechanisms 628 (e.g., doors, flaps, slots,covers, openings, etc., which are not visible in FIG. 6B) are disposedon the other side of the wall 622. If desired, the enterprise-facingmechanisms 628 need not be individually secured, such as when theenterprise-facing mechanisms 628 of the bank of receptacles 620 aredisposed in a locked back room that is accessible to onlyretail/enterprise personnel and not to the public.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 700 of securing areceptacle. The method 700 may operate in conjunction with embodimentsof the system 100 of FIGS. 1A-1D, the physical retail store 272 of FIG.2 or remote locations associated therewith, the system 300 of FIG. 3,the banks of receptacles 600, 620 of FIGS. 6A-6B, and/or other systems,stores, locations, and receptacles. For ease of discussion, though, andnot for limitation purposes, the method 700 is discussed withsimultaneous reference to FIGS. 1A-1D, 2, 3, and 6A-6B. In anembodiment, at least a portion of the method 700 is performed byexecuting computer-executable instructions stored on one or morememories of the central processing system 140 and/or the facility server126. For example, instructions that are executable to perform at least aportion of the method 700 may be included in the applications/routines325 and/or in the applications/routines 328.

FIG. 7 illustrates two of numerous example embodiments of the method 700for securing a receptacle associated with a retailer or enterprise. In afirst embodiment, at a block 702, the method 700 may include determiningthat a customer or user desires to pick up one or more items via asecured receptacle provided by the enterprise. The one or more items mayinclude, for example, a prescription fill or refill, a retail item thatthe customer purchased on-line, a replacement item provided by theretailer or enterprise, etc. As such, determining that the customerdesires to pick up one or more items via a secured receptacle (block702) may include receiving an electronic signal including an indicationof the preference of the customer/user to utilize a secured receptaclefor item pick-up. For example, the electronic signal may be receivedfrom an application via which the customer/user has made a purchaseand/or otherwise has designated item pick-up via secured receptacle(e.g., enterprise application 118, website, browser, etc.), or theelectronic signal may be received from an agent device 320, facilityserver 126, and/or central processing system 140, such as when an agentof the enterprise (e.g., a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, customerservice representative, etc.) indicates, e.g., via an enterprise deviceor user interface 320, 126, 140, that the customer/user is to pick-upitem(s) via a secured receptacle.

Based on the determination that the customer/user desires to pick up oneor more items via a secured receptacle (block 702), the method 700includes automatically selecting a target receptacle (block 705), e.g.,into which the one or more items are to be loaded and secured forpick-up by the customer or an authorized agent of the customer. Thereceptacle may be automatically selected (block 705) based on one ormore preferred characteristics or conditions of receptacles that areindicated by the customer/user, e.g., a particular location of areceptacle (e.g., at a particular retail store 272, at a particularalternate location, etc.), a particular height of a receptacle from thefloor (e.g., to accommodate shorter customers and/or customers seated inmobility devices), etc. Additionally or alternatively, the receptaclemay be automatically selected (block 705) based on one orcharacteristics of the one or more items that are to be secured withinthe target receptacle, such as a size, dimension, and/or geometry of theone or more items (individually and/or cumulatively), temperaturecontrol requirements, etc. Still additionally or alternatively, thereceptacle may be automatically selected (block 705) based on respectiveavailabilities of different types of receptacles within one or morebanks of receptacles disposed at one or more different locations, etc.

At a block 708, an indication of the selected receptacle may bedelivered to an electronic device situated at the location at which thereceptacle is disposed, where the electronic device is operable by orotherwise accessible to local personnel or agents of the retailer orenterprise supporting the bank of receptacles in which the selectedreceptacle is included. For example, at the block 708, the indication ofthe selected receptacle may be delivered to the facility server 126, oneor more agent devices 320, the on-site receptacle management electronicdevice 608, and/or another computing device operated by enterprisepersonnel to thereby indicate that the selected receptacle is ready forreceiving the customer's item(s). Based on the received indication, theenterprise personnel may manually initiate an electronic unlocking ofthe selected receptacle, e.g., by causing an electronic unlock commandto be sent to the electronic lock securing the selected receptacle viathe facility server 126, the one or more agent devices 320, the on-sitereceptacle management electronic device 608, and/or another computingdevice operated by enterprise personnel. Alternatively, the selectedreceptacle may be automatically unlocked by the system 100 upon itsselection, and the transmitted indication of the selected receptacle tothe electronic device of the local enterprise agent is for notificationpurposes.

Upon loading the one or more items of the customer into the selectedreceptacle, the enterprise personnel may issue an electronic lockinstruction via the on-site receptacle management electronic device 608or via an agent device 320 or facility server 126 that iscommunicatively connected to the receptacle management electronic device608 (e.g., via one or more wired and/or wireless communication networks318. Alternatively, the enterprise personnel may issue the electroniclock instruction directly at the electronic lock securing the selectedreceptacle. As such, the method 700 may include receiving the electroniclock instruction corresponding to the selected receptacle (block 710).

It is noted that the enterprise personnel receiving the indication ofthe selected receptacle and loading the items into the selectedreceptacle need not be human beings. For example, an indication of theselected receptacle may be delivered to a robot disposed at the locationof the bank of receptacles, and in response to the received indication,the robot may automatically load the customer's items into the selectedreceptacle and issue the electronic lock command.

The method 700 may include automatically securing or locking theselected receptacle (block 712), e.g., based on the reception of theelectronic locking instruction (block 710), and storing an indication ofan association between the selected receptacle and the customer/user(block 715). For example, at the block 712, electronically securing thereserved receptacle may include causing an electronic signal including alock command to be delivered to the electronic lock and, upon receivingthe lock command, the electronic lock may automatically lock or securethe receptacle. At the block 715, storing the indication of theassociation between the selected receptacle and the customer/user mayinclude storing the association at the product/customer database 146,and/or at a facility server 126. In some embodiments, other informationmay be stored in conjunction with the association, such as an indicationof the identity of the customer, an indication of the identity of anagent of the customer who is authorized to pick up the items on behalfof the customer, an access or security code that is to be utilized toaccess the secured receptacle, etc.

Additionally, the method 700 may include automatically sending anelectronic notification to the customer (block 718), where thenotification may indicate that his or her secured item(s) are ready tobe picked up. For example, at the block 718, the electronic notificationmay be delivered to the customer or to an application that correspondsto the customer (e.g., via email, text message, enterprise clientapplication 118, etc.) and that executes at one or more PEDs 206, 208,210, 212, 214, 216 associated with the customer. The electronicnotification typically may include the physical location of receptacle(e.g., at a particular physical store or at some other location at whichthe receptacle is disposed), but may or may not include the specificidentity of the receptacle itself. In some implementations, thenotification may include an access code via which the customer is ableto access the secured receptacle. The access code may be, for example, aseries of alphanumeric characters, a QR code, a bar code, etc.

In a second embodiment of securing a receptacle illustrated in FIG. 7,the method 700 includes determining that a customer or user desires toreserve a securable receptacle (block 720), e.g., for returning orotherwise providing an item for securing within the reserved receptacle.For example, the customer or user may desire to reserve a receptacleprovided by the retailer or enterprise to return or exchange apreviously purchased item, or the customer/user may desire to reserve areceptacle provided by the retailer or enterprise via which thecustomer/user may securely deliver or provide one or more items forother purposes. As such, determining that the customer/user desires toreserve a securable receptacle (block 720) may include receiving anelectronic signal including an indication of a request of thecustomer/user to reserve a receptacle that is securable. For example,electronic signal may be received from a website, browser, email,enterprise application 118, or other application executing at a customerPED 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216.

Based on the determination that the customer desires to reserve asecurable receptacle (block 720), the method 750 may include selecting atarget receptacle from a plurality of receptacles (block 705), e.g., forreservation and into which the customer may load and secure one or moreitems. The target receptacle may be automatically selected (block 705)based on one or more conditions. For example, the target receptacle maybe automatically selected (block 705) based on one or more preferredcharacteristics or conditions of receptacles that are indicated by thecustomer/user, e.g., a particular receptacle location (e.g., at aparticular retail store 272, at a particular alternate location, etc.),a maximum distance or height from the floor (e.g., to accommodateshorter customers and/or customers seated in mobility devices), aminimum receptacle size, dimension, and/or geometry, a temperaturecontrol requirement, and/or one or more other characteristics ofreceptacles. Additionally or alternatively, the target receptacle may beautomatically selected (block 705) based on one or more conditions otherthan customer preferences, such as the availability of different typesand sizes of receptacles at different locations.

Upon selection of the target receptacle (block 705), the secondembodiment of the method 700 may include reserving the selectedreceptacle, e.g., by electronically securing the reserved receptacle(block 712), storing an indication of an association between theselected receptacle and the customer/user (block 715), andelectronically notifying the customer/user (block 718), e.g., that areceptacle has been reserved and secured based on the reservationrequest. For example, at the block 712, electronically securing thereserved receptacle may include causing an electronic signal includingan electronic lock command to be delivered to the electronic lock and,upon receiving the lock command, the electronic lock may automaticallylock or secure the receptacle. At the block 715, storing the indicationof the association between the selected receptacle and the customer/usermay include storing the association at the product/customer database146, and/or at a facility server 126. In some embodiments, otherinformation may be stored in conjunction with the association, such asan indication of the identity of the customer, the identity of an agentof the customer who is authorized to pick up the items on behalf of thecustomer, an access or security code that is to be utilized to accessthe secured receptacle, etc.

At the block 718, electronically notifying the customer/user of thereserved, secured receptacle may include transmitting an electronicnotification (e.g., via one or more communication networks 318, 130) toan electronic device and/or an application corresponding to thecustomer, where the electronic notification includes an indication thata receptacle has been reserved in response to the reservation request.For example, such an electronic notification may be delivered to one ormore PEDs 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216 associated with the customer/uservia email, text message, enterprise client application 118, etc. In someimplementations, the notification may include an indication of thephysical store or other location at which the reserved receptacle isdisposed, and optionally may include an access code which the customer(or an authorized agent of the customer) may utilize to gain access tothe secured receptacle. The access code may be of any suitable format,such as a series of alphanumeric characters, a QR code, a bar code, etc.The electronic notification may or may not include the specific identityof the receptacle itself.

Note that the first and second embodiments of the method 700 forsecuring a receptacle share common blocks. However, the first embodimentomits the block 720, whereas the second embodiment omits the blocks 702,708, and 710. Of course, other embodiments of the method 700 arepossible, which may include fewer, additional, and/or alternative blocksother than those illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 800 of providingaccess to a secured receptacle associated with a retailer or enterprise.The method 800 may operate in conjunction with embodiments of the system100 of FIGS. 1A-1D, the physical retail store 272 of FIG. 2 and/orremote locations associated therewith, the system 300 of FIG. 3, thesignal diagram 400 of FIG. 4, the banks of receptacles 600, 620 of FIG.6A-6B, the method 700 of FIG. 7, and/or other systems, stores,locations, signal diagrams, receptacles and methods. For example, themethod 800 may be performed after or subsequent to a completion of anexecution of the method 700. For ease of discussion, though, and not forlimitation purposes, the method 800 is discussed with simultaneousreference to FIGS. 1A-1D, FIGS. 2-4, 6A-6B, and 7. Generally speaking,the method 800 may be performed when a customer or user (or an agent ofthe customer/user) arrives at a location at which a secured receptacleis situated, e.g., the customer/user arrives at the receptacle bank 600or 620.

As shown in FIG. 8, the method 800 may include receiving an electronicsignal (block 802) and determining an identity of the customer based onthe received electronic signal (block 805). The electronic signal may bereceived via a local interface of the system 100, that is, via aninterface of the system 100 that is locally disposed at a location inwhich receptacles are situated. For example, the local interface may beincluded in the on-site receptacle management device 608 or in thecustomer PED 315.

In an example scenario, receiving the electronic signal (block 802) mayinclude, for example, receiving an access code which was previouslyprovided to the customer (e.g., such as at the block 718 of the method700). The access code may be received via the on-site receptaclemanagement electronic device 608, for example, either manually viadirect entry at a manual user interface of the device 608, or optically,such as by the customer scanning a QR code, bar code, or other type ofelectronic code at a scanner interface of the device 608. The customermay provide the electronic code for scanning via a personal electronicdevice 315, via paper, or via some other suitable medium. In thisexample scenario, determining the identity of the customer based on theelectronic signal (block 802) may include verifying that the access codeis a valid access code, and optionally that the access code correspondsto a secured receptacle situated at the location.

In another example scenario, receiving the electronic signal (block 802)includes receiving biometric information, such as a fingerprint orfacial scan that is received at a scanning or camera interface of theon-site receptacle management electronic device 608. Accordingly, inthis example scenario, determining the identity of the customer based onthe received electronic signal (block 805) may include processing thebiometric information and comparing the processed biometric informationto stored biometric information.

In yet another example scenario, receiving the electronic signal (block802) includes receiving a wireless transmission that is delivereddirectly between (i) a transceiver of the system 100 corresponding toreceptacle, and (ii) a transceiver interface of a wireless electronicdevice that is located within wireless communication range of thetransceiver corresponding to the receptacle, such as the customer'spersonal electronic device 315. The transceiver corresponding to thereceptacle may be a wireless transceiver that is disposed at the bank ofreceptacles 600 and that is communicatively coupled to the on-sitereceptacle management electronic device 608, and optionally to thefacility server 126 and/or the central processing system 140. In somearrangements, each secured receptacle within the bank 600 may have itsown respective wireless transceiver that is locally disposed at thereceptacle, such as the wireless transceiver 312 a corresponding to anddisposed at receptacle 305 a shown in FIG. 3. In some arrangements, asingle wireless transceiver of the system 100 (not shown) may servicemultiple receptacles included in the bank of receptacles 600. Forexample, a single wireless transceiver of the system 100 may be disposedproximate to or at the bank of receptacles 600 and may communicate withcustomer PEDs 315, enterprise agent devices 320, and other devices onbehalf of any receptacle included in the bank 600.

In this example scenario, determining the identity of the customer(block 805) based on the received wireless transmission may be similarto that described previously with respect to block 502 of FIG. 5A. Forinstance, determining the customer's identity 805 may be based on thereceived wireless transmission's payload and/or header, anidentification of the wireless electronic device (such as an IMEI, andMEID, and IMSI, and ESN, an ICC-ID of a card or chip included in thewireless electronic device, a TN, and/or another suitable identifier),an identification of an account of the customer with a retailer orenterprise, such as a loyalty account, an electronic or web-basedaccount, etc., and/or of a user ID, login ID, or other customer-specificindicia associated therewith. In some embodiments, the identity of thecustomer may be determined based on an identifier of the clientapplication 118 that is executing on the customer device 315, e.g. astracked by a server of the retailer 126 or enterprise 140.

At a block 808, the method 800 may include determining whether or notthe identified customer is an expected customer. For example, one ormore stored associations between secured receptacles and customer/usersmay be accessed to determine whether or not the identified customer isassociated with a secured receptacle disposed at the location. If thecustomer is determined to be an unexpected customer (e.g., the “no” legof block 808), the method 800 may include sending an electronic signalto a device 320 being operated by an agent of the retailer or enterprise(block 810) to mitigate the situation. For example, the signal sent tothe agent device (block 810) may include an indication that the securedreceptacle is to be manually unlocked, or that the situation requires anagent evaluation. Based on the signal, the agent may physically (orvirtually, such as via a remote feed) dialog with the customer toresolve the situation, which may result in the agent manually unlockingthe secured receptacle or remotely triggering an electronic unlocking ofthe secured receptacle, in some cases.

At the block 808, if the customer is determined to be an expectedcustomer (e.g., the “yes” leg of block 808), the method 800 may includeautomatically determining the corresponding receptacle and sending anelectronic signal to trigger the unlocking of the electronic lock at thesecured receptacle (block 812). For example, automatically determiningthe receptacle corresponding to the identified, expected customer mayinclude accessing a stored indication of an association between theidentified, expected customer and a particular secured receptacle. Theelectronic signal sent to the electronic lock of the secured receptaclecorresponding to the identified, expected customer may include anelectronic unlock command or instruction, for example, and theelectronic signal may be automatically sent to the electronic lock tounlock the secured receptacle (e.g., in a manner such as previouslydiscussed with respect to the signal 445 of FIG. 4). Alternatively, anelectronic signal indicating that the electronic lock may be remotelyunlocked may be automatically sent to a device being operated by anagent of the retailer or enterprise, and the operating agent may cause aremote unlock signal or command to be transmitted from the agent deviceto the electronic lock (e.g., in a manner such as previously discussedwith respect to the signal 452 of FIG. 4), to thereby unlock thereceptacle so that the customer is able to access the receptacle.

Further, at any time during the unlocking and accessing of the reservedreceptacle (e.g., after the execution of the block 812), should thecustomer require assistance, the customer may electronically request thephysical and/or virtual assistance of enterprise agents and/orpersonnel, as indicated by the reference 815. For example, the customermay request assistance (reference 815) via the customer's PED 315 and/orvia the on-site receptacle management device 805, which may result inthe method 800 sending an electronic signal to a device 320 beingoperated by an agent of the enterprise (block 810) to notify the agentthat customer assistance has been requested.

Returning now to block 812, in scenarios in which access to the securedreceptacle is provided for the purposes of customer item pickup, uponexecution of the block 810, the method 800 may include the blocks520-530 of FIG. 5B, e.g., to determine and/or verify that the itemssecured within the receptacle were indeed removed.

At the block 812, in scenarios in which access to the secured receptacleis provided for the purposes of the customer loading one or more itemsinto the receptacle, after triggering the unlocking of the reservedreceptacle (block 812), the customer may thereby have access to theunlocked, reserved receptacle. After the customer has finished loadingthe one or items into the receptacle, the customer may issue anelectronic lock instruction, e.g., via the on-site receptacle managementelectronic device 608, via the customer's PED 315, or merely by closingthe door, panel, lid, or other aperture cover of the receptacle.Accordingly, in these scenarios, the method 800 may include receiving anelectronic lock instruction initiated by the customer (block 818), andautomatically locking and securing the receptacle based on the receptionof the received lock instruction (block 820). For example, at the block820, an electronic locking command may be sent to the electronic lock ofthe reserved receptacle, thereby causing the reserved receptacle to belocked and secured.

In some scenarios, one or more sensors associated with the receptaclemay detect the loading of the items into the receptacle. For example,the sensor 455 a and/or another type of sensor disposed at thereceptacle 305 a (e.g., a weight sensor, an optical sensor, etc.) maydetect the loading of items into the receptacle 305 a, and signalsgenerated by the sensor(s) may be utilized in determining whether or notthe receptacle should be secured, whether or not the customer and/orenterprise agent should be notified, etc.

Based on the automatic securing of the receptacle (block 820), themethod 800 may include automatically sending an electronic notificationto an agent of the retailer or enterprise (block 822), where thenotification may indicate that the customer's items have been securedwithin the reserved receptacle. For example, at the block 822, theelectronic notification may be delivered to an agent device 320, thefacility server 126, and/or the central processing system 140. At sometime thereafter, enterprise personnel may access the secured receptacleto retrieve the items that have been loaded therein by the customer.

This disclosure is intended to explain how to fashion and use variousembodiments in accordance with the technology rather than to limit thetrue, intended, and fair scope and spirit thereof. The foregoingdescription is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to theprecise forms disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible inlight of the above teachings. The embodiment(s) were chosen anddescribed to provide the best illustration of the principle of thedescribed technology and its practical application, and to enable one ofordinary skill in the art to utilize the technology in variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations arewithin the scope of the embodiments as determined by the appendedclaims, as may be amended during the pendency of this application forpatent, and all equivalents thereof, when interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.

What is claimed:
 1. A system for automatically securing receptaclesassociated with an enterprise, the system comprising: one or morecommunication interfaces communicatively connecting the system to aplurality of electronic locks securing a plurality of receptaclesassociated with the enterprise; one or more processors; and one or moretangible, non-transitory computer-readable media storing a set ofcomputer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the system to: based on one or more conditionscorresponding to a request, associated with a user, to reserve areceptacle associated with the enterprise, select a target receptaclethat is included in the plurality of receptacles and secured via aparticular electronic lock of the plurality of electronic locks;transmit, via the one or more communication interfaces to the particularelectronic lock, an electronic signal including a command to lock thetarget receptacle, thereby securing the target receptacle; and transmit,via one or more communication networks to at least one of an electronicdevice or an application corresponding to the user, an electronicnotification indicating that the target receptacle has been reserved inresponse to the request.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the requestis associated with an agent of the enterprise or a customer of theenterprise.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the request corresponds toa reservation of the target receptacle for a return of an item to theenterprise.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the request corresponds toa retrieval or pick-up of an item corresponding to a customer andsecured within the target receptacle.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereineach of at least one receptacle of the plurality of receptacles isindividually secured by a respective, single electronic lock.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein more than one receptacle of the plurality ofreceptacles is secured as a group via a respective, single electroniclock.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the target receptacle includes acustomer-facing access mechanism and an enterprise-facing accessmechanism; and the command to lock the target receptacle is to securethe customer-facing access mechanism of the target receptacle.
 8. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the target receptacle includes acustomer-facing access mechanism and an enterprise-facing accessmechanism respectively secured by different electronic locks; and thecommand to lock the target receptacle is to secure the enterprise-facingaccess mechanism of the target receptacle.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the plurality of receptacles are located at at least one of aretail location of the enterprise or another location that is not aretail location of the enterprise.
 10. A method of automaticallysecuring receptacles associated with an enterprise, the methodcomprising: receiving, via a local interface associated with a securitysystem, an electronic signal, the local interface disposed at a locationat which one or more receptacles of a plurality of receptaclesassociated with the enterprise are situated and secured by a pluralityof electronic locks; determining, by one or more processors of thesecurity system, an identity of a customer and a particular receptacle,of the plurality of receptacles, that corresponds to the customer, thedetermination based on the received electronic signal and stored datathat is indicative of interactions of the customer with the enterprise;and transmitting, via one or more communication interfacescommunicatively connecting the security system with the plurality ofelectronic locks, at least one of an activating instruction or adeactivating instruction to a particular electronic lock securing theparticular receptacle, thereby respectively at least one of securing orunsecuring the particular receptacle.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the particular receptacle includes a customer-facing accessmechanism and an enterprise-facing access mechanism, and the particularelectronic lock secures the customer-facing access mechanism of theparticular receptacle.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein transmittingthe at least one of the activating instruction or the deactivatinginstruction comprises transmitting the deactivating instruction therebyunsecuring the customer-facing access mechanism of the particular for areturn of an item corresponding to the customer.
 13. The method of claim12, further comprising, subsequent to transmitting the deactivatinginstruction, transmitting the activating instruction thereby re-securingthe customer-facing access mechanism of the particular receptacle for aretrieval of the item corresponding to the customer and disposed withinthe particular receptacle.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein theparticular receptacle includes a customer-facing access mechanism and anenterprise-facing access mechanism, and the particular electronic locksecures the enterprise-facing access mechanism of the particularreceptacle.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the atleast one of the activating instruction or the deactivating instructioncomprises transmitting the deactivating instruction thereby unsecuringthe enterprise-facing access mechanism of the particular receptacle forloading, via the enterprise-facing access mechanism, an itemcorresponding to the customer into the particular receptacle for pick-upor retrieval.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the atleast one of the activating instruction or the deactivating instructioncomprises transmitting the deactivating instruction thereby unsecuringthe enterprise-facing access mechanism of the particular receptacle forretrieving, via the enterprise-facing access mechanism, an itemcorresponding to the customer that has been loaded into the particularreceptacle.
 17. The method of claim 10, further comprising selecting theparticular receptacle from the plurality of receptacles based on one ormore conditions of a set of conditions, the set of conditions including:a user indication, a receptacle availability, a receptacle location, areceptacle geometry, another characteristic of receptacles, atemperature control requirement, an access code, a security code, andbiometric information.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein: theelectronic signal is a first electronic signal; transmitting the atleast one of the activating instruction or the deactivating instructionto the particular electronic lock thereby respectively securing orunsecuring the particular receptacle includes transmitting theactivating instruction to a first electronic lock thereby securing acustomer-facing access mechanism the particular receptacle; and themethod further comprises: subsequently receiving a second electronicsignal corresponding to the customer; and based on thesubsequently-received second electronic signal, transmitting, via theone or more communication interfaces, an unlocking command to a secondelectronic lock thereby unsecuring an enterprise-facing access mechanismof the particular receptacle.
 19. The method of claim 10, wherein: theelectronic signal is a first electronic signal; transmitting the atleast one of the activating instruction or the deactivating instructionto the particular electronic lock thereby respectively securing orunsecuring the particular receptacle includes transmitting theactivating instruction to the particular electronic lock therebysecuring a customer-facing access mechanism the particular receptacle;and the method further comprises: subsequently receiving, via the localinterface, a second electronic signal indicative of the customer; andbased on the subsequently-received second electronic signal,transmitting, via the one or more communication interfaces, an unlockingcommand to the particular electronic lock thereby unsecuring thecustomer-facing access mechanism of the particular receptacle.
 20. Themethod of claim 10, wherein: the particular receptacle includes acustomer-facing access mechanism and an enterprise-facing accessmechanism respectively secured by different electronic locks; andtransmitting the at least one of the activating instruction or thedeactivating instruction to the particular electronic lock therebyrespectively securing or unsecuring the particular receptacle includestransmitting the deactivating instruction to the respective electroniclock securing the enterprise-facing access mechanism, thereby unsecuringthe enterprise-facing access mechanism of the particular receptacle. 21.The method of claim 20, wherein the electronic signal is a firstelectronic signal, and the method further comprises, subsequent tounsecuring the enterprise-facing access mechanism of the particularreceptacle: receiving, via the local interface, a second electronicsignal indicative of the customer; determining that the indicatedcustomer is an expected customer; and transmitting, via the one or morecommunication interfaces, an electronic unlocking command to therespective electronic lock securing the customer-facing access mechanismof the particular receptacle, thereby unsecuring the customer-facingaccess mechanism of the particular receptacle.